Gamecrash
by Nanosecond
Summary: Fourteen year old Aster Silverwood is playing Pokémon Red on her Gameboy when the device develops a glitch and she winds up inside the game (Without her level.100 Charizard, dammit!). Friends to be made, enemies to piss off, extreme awkwardness to survive. Yay! Not.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. If I did, Mega Flygon, Mega Dragonite, and Mega Mew would be a thing.**

Prologue

* * *

 _"Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokémon."_

 _"Squirtle, the Tiny Turtle Pokémon."_ (Objection, Nintendo. It's a tortoise)

 _"Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon."_

Seriously, is there even a need to choose?

Call me original if you like, but I've always picked Charmander. This may be my _third_ time playing Pokémon Red, but Red (the character) simply looks _wrong_ standing next to Blastoise, and I'm not about to let Blue get his dirty paws on Charmander. Which is what would happen if I picked Bulbasaur.

So, for the third time in the history of Aster Emilis Silverwood (that's my name, by the way), I walked the avatar of Red to the table and picked Charmander's Pokéball.

(Yes, even though I'm a girl I've always chosen the male avatar and named him Red. Just like how I've always named the rival Blue. Again, call me original if you want)

The Gameboy in my hands started to grow warm. I frowned a bit. I'd only just turned it on, so it shouldn't be overheating so soon. It's not like I was standing in the sun or something. Psh, please, I ain't stupid enough to play Pokémon Red in full view of the universe, especially because my elder brother is in the backyard with his kid (Yes, I'm an aunt. At fourteen years old. My stupid twenty-three year old brother just couldn't keep his pants on long enough for me to have a peaceful, annoying-kids-free life).

Then the machine started shaking. I dropped it with a yelp. Okay, this was _not_ normal. The screen started spazzing out and I leapt back, fully expecting it to explode and cover me with a shower of metal and plastic bits.

It didn't.

After a few moments of twitching, the screen went black again and everything was normal. I breathed out a sigh of relief as I went to pick up the device. Looks like I won't have to pay for the repair bill for blowing up my room just yet.

"No, Blue." I said firmly to the screen as I picked it up. "You cannot have revenge for all those times I whopped your ass by blowing up my Gameboy. That would be just cruel"

Just as I said that, the device started to hum softly, growing louder and louder. But before I could drop it again, a bright flash emitted from the screen, blacking out my vision for a moment and making me see stars.

 _Dammit_ , I thought dazedly. _I can see bloody fairies now. Yippee._

For a brief moment, I felt like I was dissolving, vanishing away from my bedroom.

 _Ooh, I think the Death Star just fired on our planet. Why am I even thinking about this-_

Then darkness swamped my vision, and when my eyes blinked, I was somewhere else entirely. Definitely not in a house anymore.

 _Now I'm John Carter on Mars. Bow, peasants!_

Then my wacked-up brain sorted itself out and I stopped thinking extremely weird out-of-place thoughts and gaped at my surroundings instead.


	2. The Pokéverse

**Yeah, sorry about that... I decided to take Red out of the title because I realised the part he was playing wasn't _that_ big.**

Chapter One: The Pokéverse.

* * *

I was lying on a patch of grass, curled up around a soft object. I shifted, slowly getting up, painfully aware of a small, hard _something_ digging into my hip. I felt about, determined to get rid of the annoyance. My fingers closing around a small golf ball sized sphere, warm from my body heat. I plucked it out and lifted it up to my eyes.

I froze, staring at the red and white ball I held between my trembling fingers.

 _No_ _way._ A small part of my mind whispered in awe.

If I was right, then I am now in the Pokéverse and the shrunken Pokéball I held now contained my starter Pokémon.

I got up slowly, stumbling over to a small pool nearby and peered at my reflection. I blinked in shock at what I saw. Black hair tied in a ponytail and olive skin. That part was normal.

What _wasn't_ normal was the black and red cap, red t-shirt, black jacket, dark gray pants, and flexible black leather boots surprisingly suited for running. Also note the blood-red eyes and the fact I looked like I was ten years old.

Now, the normal response to this situation would be screaming and running about in circles. My response? "Score!" I yelled, punching the air. Now, to find out what I had in the Pokéball and the bag (which turned out to be the soft object I was curled around).

I pressed the button on the golf ball sized sphere. Immediately, it grew to a size that was slightly bigger than a tennis ball.

Now, the moment of truth. If wasn't the Charmander I reserved, I'm so gonna sue old Prof Oak. Though a Snivy would have been acceptable.

I took a deep breath and pressed the button again. The Pokéball jerked back like a shotgun been fired and released a globe of fire. The fireball exploded outwards with a burst of heat, and revealed a golden reptile with a flame on the tip of its tail, staring at me with big blue eyes.

"Wait a moment... I didn't order a Shiny, right?"

The Charmander looked at me with some measure of confusion. "Yeah, suckers!" I whooped. "I have a Shiny Charmander! Take that, Blue boy!" Then I abruptly shut up, realizing that since I _was_ in the Pokéverse now, there was actually a chance that Blue was nearby and could hear me.

* * *

 _Somewhere nearby..._

* * *

 _"-at, Blue boy!"_

Blue blinked. He was sure he just heard someone call his name.

Then again, his parents _did_ name him after a _colour_.

It was probably just someone else talking about a colour.

He shrugged. Meh, he's got bigger fish to fry. He's supposed to pick his starter tomorrow, and he _still_ doesn't know what he wants. He turned back to the Pokémon encyclopaedia he was reading and started rereading the entries on the three starters again.

* * *

I bent down until I was eye level with the confused Charmander and gave it my most charming smile. "Nice to meet you, Charmander! I'm your new trainer, Aster. Pleased to meet you!" The Charmander smiled back uncertainly in a reptilian way. "Now wait a moment while I find my Pokédex. There should be one in the bag. I dug around in the bag and found 500 Pokédollars in notes, a few potions, the standard five Pokéballs for a beginning trainer, some Pokémon food, and a black 'Dex streaked with red. My favorite colours. I flipped it open and scanned Charmander.

 _Charmander, the Lizard Pokémon-_

Yeah, yeah. Skip that bit, been through it thousands of times.

 _This Charmander is male_

 _Level: 5_

 _Ability1: Blaze. Ability2: Solar Power._

 _Current moveset: Scratch, Growl, Ember, Dragon Dance._

 _Egg move: Ancient Power_

 _The unusual colouring of this Pokémon suggests that it is a Shiny._

I frowned a bit. Seems like things here don't work exactly the same way as the game does. Aren't Charmander supposed to learn Ember at Level 7? And what's the deal with Ability 1 and Ability 2? I'm pretty sure Solar Power is the Hidden Ability for the Charizard line.

Flipping the Pokédex shut, I turned back to Charmander.

"Do you want a name?" I asked. He tilted his head and seemed to think about it. After a while, he shook his head. I sighed in relief. I wasn't really planning to name him, it just popped into my head. I wasn't sure if I could even come up with a name.

I clipped his Pokéball back onto my belt and stuffed the spare ones into my pockets. Then I packed everything back into the bag and hoisted it onto my shoulders. Even that action felt weird. I guess I'm just not used to being a 10 year old again.

"Let's go."I said to my companion. I'd rather not put him back inside the Pokéball, so I guess he was walking with me. I started walking in a random direction, expecting him to follow.

Suddenly, I felt a warm something hit my back, claws flailing for purchase. I yelped in surprise and turned my head to see Charmander crawling onto my shoulder. He pulled himself upright and growled in triumph, huffing a little smoke out of his nose.

"Alright." I sighed. I resumed my random walking, even though I really had no idea where I was.

Tall grass blocked my vision from every direction.

Wait a moment... Tall grass? Isn't that where you find wild Pokémon? I grinned, rubbing my hands together. Time to find something to capture.

* * *

 _A Long Time Later..._

* * *

Are Pokémon usually this hard to find? I've being walking around this place for ages without finding so much as a _Caterpie_. Maybe I was being too loud. Or maybe it was because of the knee-height lizard with a _burning tail_ sitting on my shoulder.

There was a rustling in the tall grass and I perked up. At this rate, I'd settle for a Pidgey (I like Pidgeots anyway).

But nope, not even that. I breathed out a sigh of disappointment as a Rattata jumped out in front of us. Charmander immediately leapt down from my shoulder and placed himself in front of me, baring his teeth in a snarl.

"Right... Charmander, Ember!"

I must have had a lucky break, because the Rattata was just in the middle of Tackle, and ran straight into the stream of flames. Without me needing to tell him to, Charmander darted forwards and finished to job off with a Scratch.

"Cool!" I grinned and picked the squirming Charmander up. "Let's find another one".

 _More walking later..._

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of yellow. I whipped around, Charmander barely managing to cling on.

There was a Pichu.

Sure, the stats of the Raichu line may not be great, but I've always caught a Pikachu on the way to Pewter just for the sake of having it. For some unknown reason, I've always had a Raichu on the team.

"Score." I whispered. "Don't beat this one up _too_ badly, Charmander. That's our future teammate." the oblivious mouse still hadn't noticed us yet.

"Stick to long distance attacks." I ordered quietly. "If you touch it, you might get paralysed." Charmander nodded his understanding as his eyes narrowed, focused on the target.

"Ember!" I snapped. Immediately, the Pichu was hit by a stream of fire from Charmander's tail. It squeaked in pain and surprise, bolting upright and scanning for the attacker with a sharp gaze.

Charmander hopped into view, firing another Ember, sending Pichu reeling back, away from the worst of the heat. "Dragon Dance!" I said. Charmander started jumping around dancing in what looked like a really weird jig. Pichu's cheeks sparked, and it loosed a Thundershock that Charmander didn't completely manage to dodge. Charmander fell back with a sharp cry, and Pichu took the opportunity to attack. It wrapped itself in a cloak of electricity and charged, getting faster and faster.

 _No way! It know Volt Tackle?_

"Charmander! Dodge!" I shouted desperately. Too late, as the Pichu slammed into Charmander and knocked him back out of sight. It turned its furious gaze on me.

'Piii-'

 _Ah crap._

I yelped like the little girl I was and ran around in circles, trying but not completely succeeding in avoiding the bursts of electricity the little mouse was sending my way. I dug my hand into my pockets as I ran, fumbling around for an empty Pokéball. I clicked the button on the Pokéball, enlarging it as I cried out in pain from a zap to my backside.

Charmander staggered back into view, his golden scales dirty and broken in places. He tackled the angry mouse to the ground and Scratched it again and again. Then, a sheen of electricity crackled over his scales and Charmander froze.

Pichu's ability, Static.

 _Double crap!_

The Pichu pushed the paralysed Charmander away, giving him another good zap for the measure, and turned its attention back to me. I bolted. But I wasn't running away. I ran towards it.

Pichu's eyes widened as I smacked the Pokéball to its head, going momentarily cross-eyed before the beam sucked it in (I almost felt sorry for the little creature. The Pókeball I hit it with was _at_ _least_ as large as its tiny head).

I kept my eyes on the Pokéball as it wobbled, reaching for another just in case.

 _Twitch._

 _Twitch._

 _Twitch._

 _Twitch._

 _DING!_

I sighed in relief as the Pokéball stopped wobbling. I plopped myself on the ground and recalled the fainted Charmander. I laughed shakily as I inspected the Pichu's Pokéball.

"I CAUGHT A PICHU!" I yelled, raising it to the sky. "I c-caught a P-Pich-u-"

Then all the Thundershocks I took to the rear end caught up with me and I passed out.


	3. The Journey Beckons

Chapter Two: The Journey Beckons

* * *

I rose to consciousness slowly, like a Wailord surfacing after a dive. Where was I? Did I fall asleep while playing Pokémon again?

Then the events of the past day caught up with me and I opened my eyes, expecting to see waving fronds of tall grass, too long to see over.

Instead, I was greeted with the sight of a white ceiling, white walls, and machines everywhere. It looked like a little kid's nightmare (a.k.a a doctor's room).

I heard voices outside the door and rapidly approaching footsteps. I quickly shut my eyes and pretended to be asleep. The door opened, and someone came in, muttering to himself. I opened my left eye by a crack and looked around, spotting the intruder. He was a white-haired old man wearing a lab coat. Now where had I seen that before. Oh yeah, now I remember.

I waited until his back was turned and sat up silently. Then I said in a deliberately loud and cheerful voice:"Hello Prof, can you tell me what I'm doing here and where my Pokémon are? Thanks!"

Professor Oak tripped and almost crashed into the wall, barely managing to save himself with an outstretched hand. Oops. I hope I didn't give him a heart attack. He still has to send a few more million ten year olds on dangerous journeys (not that I'm complaining, of course)

"Ah, yes. So you are awake" he said, turning around and giving me a brief, shaky smile. "You are in the Pallet Town Labs and your Pokémon are being looked after. You have been unconscious for a day, Aster."

I gave him a really weird look. "How'd you know my name?" I said suspiciously.

The ol' Prof busied himself with tidying up the equipment he knocked over. "Your name is registered on your Pokédex." he said in a much calmer tone. "Would you like some breakfast? It has been a day since you've eaten"

Now, kids. When an old guy in a lab coat offers you food you would generally run away screaming and call the police on them. But I was hungry and I knew this guy (sort of) so I accepted.

I swung my legs off the bed and noticed several tubes connected to a machine. I tracked the tubes with my eyes...

It was then I realized there was a needle in my arm.

* * *

Room service. Isn't that great? I got to sit in bed and shovel pancakes into my mouth while Prof did his stuff (I think he was writing an essay on the computer. The horror!), while multitasking by explaining what happened as a nurse fussed over me. He probably didn't want me to freak out like I did over the needle (laugh away. I have needle-phobia), so didn't risk bringing me outside.

"My grandson found you in the tall grass when he wandered in after he heard someone call his name. And then my Alakazam found him when a Raticate attacked him."

Which grandson? Probably Blue because I was yelling his name pretty loudly. What?! I didn't actually expect him to be in the vicinity. I felt a bit guilty for luring a ten-year-old into possible danger.

Just then, an ear shattering roar sounded outside, followed by a furious Dragonite poking its head through the window. Throwing a distasteful look at me, it retracted its head and threw a gold something through the window and disappeared. Charmander uncurled himself and hopped back onto the window ledge, shaking his tiny fist and growling something that was probably a swear word in Pokémon out the window.

"Your Charmander has been quite troublesome" the Professor said, seemingly oblivious to what had just happened. The nurse, a tough woman in her forties, was likewise untroubled. "He challenges Dragonite at every chance he gets. The Pichu we couldn't let out of its Pokéball at all, as it seems to delight in destroying lab equipment"

I'm starting to like the Pichu more and more already. It's not like I have anything against Professor Oak, of course. I just seem to gravitate towards trouble. I scooped up the still-cursing Charmander and stuffed a piece of pancake into his mouth to keep him quiet. He swallowed the mouthful without complaint and silently begged with big puppy eyes for another.

Dragonite chose that moment to pop its head back back through the window, huffing something at Prof. "Again?" Prof Oak groaned. He turned his computer off and turned to the nurse. "Millie, there's a kid wandering in the tall grass. Again. I have to fish him out before the Beedrill get to him. Show the girl around, will you?" with that, he hurried out the door.

So that's how Professor Oak found Red in the tall grass! I'd always thought he had a spy camera superglued to a tree on Route One or something (I don't think I was very far off. After all, he could have just strapped cameras on his Pokémon and got them to stalk all the little kids).

* * *

After I got all my stuff back, I did a bit of wandering around. I didn't dare let my newly-captured Pokémon out just in case it decided to short out all the electronic devices in the lab, or start zapping me again. Charmander, as usual, was out of his Pokéball, basking in the stares of amazement and curiosity at the sight of his golden scales.

This place was huge! It was like a giant mansion, not how the game depicted it at all. I wandered around and found a particularly large room with lots of scientists in it and stopped.

Loitering at the back was a boy with spiky brown hair.

He was pacing back and forth in front of a table with three Pokéballs on it, muttering something to himself with an impatient expression on his face.

I mentally debated the pros and cons of going in there and saying hi, but decided against it. Judging by the fact his hair was brown instead of ginger I assumed I was in the Mangaverse, in which Blue was pretty awesome. I felt like a fangirl in the presence of my idol, which was totally not true because I _didn't_ idolize Blue (seriously, stop laughing!).

"Aster! I was wondering where you were!" I spun around and jumped five feet into the air. Professor Oak was hurrying down the corridor with a sullen looking raven-haired boy trailing after him. I gave a slight start as he looked up from the ground and stared at me with crimson eyes.

"Aster, this is Red. I'm just about to give him and my grandson their starter Pókemon. You can come and watch if you like."

Okay, I don't think this is the Mangaverse. Red definitely didn't get Bulbasaur this way. But judging by what Red and Blue look like, this wasn't the Gameverse either. Maybe a weird mixture of both and neither?

Anyway, I followed them into the room out of curiosity. I just _had_ to know what starter they picked (I know I'm biased, but I hoped Red and Blue would go with Charmander and Squirtle like in Pokémon Origins).

"Gramps! What took you so long?!" Blue shouted from the back of the room as we approached.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Blue. I had to get Red out of hazard zone. He seems to be more impatient than you are." he then turned to me. "Aster, this is Blue, my grandson. He was the one who found you in the tall grass"

Up close, I could see Blue had electric blue eyes. Huh. I always thought he had brown eyes. Guess the blue matches his name better.

"Is she related to the mute?" Blue asked, ignoring me completely like I wasn't there at all. His eyes strayed momentarily to Charmander, who was still sitting on my shoulder.

"Blue! Don't call Red that!" Professor Oak said in a shocked voice. But judging by the look on his face, this happened a lot. Red's face simply remained blank as if he hadn't heard the conversation. "And besides, she isn't from here" he paused. "Where are you actually from, Aster?"

"I'm from Viridian" I lied. I don't know how they'd react if I said I was from an alternate universe. I certainly didn't want to be kept in a lab as a test subject.

The professor nodded and turned back to the two boys. He pressed a button and a screen came up, showing all the information about the Pokémon in the three Pókeballs on the table.

"Which one of you wants to choose first?" Professor Oak asked.

Blue snorted and nodded in Red's general direction. "He can choose first. I haven't actually decided on which Pokémon to pick yet"

Taking that as his cue, Red stepped up to the table and studied the Pokéballs, seemingly thinking hard. He reached out for a Pokéball and I held my breath. His hand hovered over Charmander's Pokéball uncertainly, then moved over to Bulbasaur's. Blue's eyes tracked his hand nervously and I realized something. Blue _did_ have a starter in mind, but he was letting Red choose first! How very nice of him.

After what seemed like an eternity, Red picked up a Pokéball and tossed it into the air. A flash of fire erupted from the sphere, and a second later a little orange lizard was held in Red's arms, looking around with an air of bafflement before understanding dawned on its reptilian face. My own Charmander huffed a greeting, which the other repeated politely.

Scarcely after Red released his Charmander, Blue swept forwards and claimed Squirtle's Pokéball for his own. Likewise, he threw the ball upwards and caught the Pokémon in his arms. There was a look of relief on his face, though he tried hard to cover it up.

The professor clapped. "Wonderful! I see you two already know how a Pokéball works. I assume you have packed for your journeys?"

Both boys nodded. They pulled out Pokéballs and tapped on the buttons. Bright beams shot out and formed into backpacks. Wait... you can do that?

Professor Oak nodded in approval. "Wait here a moment, there's one more thing I want to give you two" he went to a box and pulled out two shiny devices. "These are Pokédexes. They record information on all the Pokémon you see or capture. It's basically an electronic Pokémon encyclopedia" he looked at me for a moment. "Though it seems Aster already has one, albeit more technologically advanced"

How do I explain this?

Before I could open my mouth and embarrass myself, Professor Oak started speaking again. "I have a task for both of you" he said solemnly. "I need you to capture all 149 Pokémon in Kanto to complete the Pokédex. This has been a lifelong dream of mine, but sadly I am now too old for such adventures" Really? The guy with a Dragonite and an Alakazam? Come on, you're never too old for adventures!

"You can count on me, Gramps" Blue said seriously. Red simply nodded.

"Thank you, boys. Best of luck on your journeys! You too, Aster" the professor smiled as he waved us goodbye.

* * *

I sat just off the road of Route One. Unlike how the game pictures it, Pallet Town isn't that small and is actually separated from Viridian by a thicket. There were a lot of trees and boulders, one of which I was just sitting on.

I plucked Pichu's Pokéball off my Pokéball belt and enlarged it. I took a deep breath, and Charmander stood on the ground in front of me in case it tried anything funny.

I tossed the red and white sphere to the ground, remembering the unpleasant jolt I felt when I opened Charmander's Pokéball for the first time. The ball bounced back towards me, releasing a globe of yellow electricity. I caught the Pokéball just as the electricity dispersed, revealing a glaring Pichu. Charmander tensed, claws flashing with white energy.

Pichu ignored him and walked over to me on four legs. It came close and stalked around me in a circle, sniffing. I stiffened a bit when it went around my back, and relaxed slightly when it came back into view. I flinched a bit when electricity sparked on its cheeks, but held my ground. After a while, Pichu sat back and gave me a curt nod, as if saying it found me acceptable.

I relaxed, and took out my Pokédex, aiming the camera at the small mouse. It sat there patiently, watching with its gleaming black eyes.

I skipped the introduction and went straight to the more important info.

 _This Pichu is male._

 _Level: 13_

 _Ability1: Static. Ability2: Lightningrod. Ability3: Volt Absorb._

 _Current Moveset: Volt Tackle, Quick Attack, Thundershock, Tail Whip, Sweet Kiss, Nasty Plot._

 _Egg Move: Wish_

Well, I guess it was no surprise Charmander got his butt handed to him. This little mouse was twice his level.

Also, I'm pretty sure Lightningrod is the Hidden Ability for Pichu. Static was no surprise, but I know for a fact Pichu aren't meant to have Volt Absorb as an ability. What's next, a Rattata with Poison Point?

I scanned Charmander for his level. Level 7 now. Not bad.

"Alright, I want to do some training now before we go to Viridian. Once we go past there, we're going to get hit hard by trainers challenging us from all sides. I'm aiming for a record of zero defeats by other trainers"

I started by having Charmander spit fire from his mouth, holding the flames in his throat longer and allowing the fire to build up before releasing it in a longer stream, hoping to learn Flamethrower. I got Pichu to use Tail Whip on the various things I threw at him in the hopes he'd master Iron Tail.

After around an hour, I got bored and decided to move on. By this time, Charmander had learnt Flame Burst but was still pretty far away from an actual Flamethrower. Pichu had gradually gotten his tail to start glowing, but again, wasn't anywhere near to achieving the desired move.

I packed up my stuff and put my backpack in a Pokéball like Red and Blue did. Then as I stood up, my Pokémon hopped up onto my shoulders. Charmander on the left, Pichu on the right. I probably looked like a miniature traveling circus.

Just before I got to Viridian City, a trainer jumped out in front of me. "I challenge you to a battle!" he shouted loudly. I winced from the extreme loudness of his voice as Charmander jumped from my shoulder and took up a fighting stance. The boy's eyes widened as he saw my Charmander's colouring.

"What about a deal?" he grinned cockily. "If you beat me, I'll give you something special I got from a Pokémon merchant. If I beat you, you hand over that gold Charmander of yours"

"No deal." I scowled. "I'm not giving Charmander away" Charmander growled in agreement.

The boy ignored me, still grinning, and sent out a Nidoran male. "Poison Sting!" he ordered. The Pokémon duly sent out a barrage of needle like missiles. Charmander dodged them with ease (I've always found it pointless when Ash orders his Pokémon to dodge an attack. No living being in their right minds would sit there and let themselves get hurt).

"Growl" I said to Charmander. He immediately did so, sending out soundwaves that made me feel a bit weak at the knees, even though it wasn't aimed at me.

"Peck!" the other trainer shouted. Nidoran charged, a drill made out of white light forming in front of him.

"Charmander, Flame Burst in the Nidoran's face and dodge to the side in case he's still going" Charmander unleashed a burst of orange flames from his mouth and immediately leapt to the side. The Nidoran slowed, but kept going though he missed Charmander completely. The poor brainless probably got blinded by the flames. Charmander took the opportunity to power up with a Dragon Dance while the opponent was distracted.

"No! Nidoran, get back!" but it was too late. Another Flame Burst later, we had a fainted Nidoran. Charmander did the Dragon Dance again while the boy fumbled for another Pokéball.

See, that's what I like about my Pokémon. They can fight for themselves without me having to order them around the whole time. I'm mainly there to provide suggestions during battles, not to basically control their every move. And I like it that way.

The boy threw another Pokéball onto the makeshift battlefield and a Rattata appeared from the flash of light. "Use Tackle!" the boy snapped. Charmander ran back so he was braced against a rock, and held his palms out. The Rattata crashed into Charmander's outstretched paws. Charmander's arms shook but didn't buckle, only taking minimum damage. His claws latched onto the Rattata as it tried to pull away unsuccessfully. He fired a Flame Burst at point-blank range. A Scratch barrage later, the rat was down for the count.

The boy cursed as he reached for another Pokéball, Charmander using yet another Dragon Dance. By now, there was a fiery orange aura surrounding Charmander from the energy of the Dragon Dances.

A Pidgey burst onto the battlefield. "Quick Attack!" the trainer ordered. Charmander, caught in the last stages of Dragon Dance, was unable to dodge in time. He went flying backwards with a growl. He fired Embers and Flame Bursts into the air but Pidgey was too fast. It performed another Quick Attack at its trainer's order, and again Charmander was unable to dodge in time. The other trainer laughed. "I think that Charmander is mine". I growled angrily, still trying to come up with a plan. "I said, _no_ _deal_ " besides, I still had Pichu.

Suddenly I had an idea. Perhaps it was caused by the guy's utter annoyingness. "Charmander!" I shouted. "Back up against the rock like you did before!" Charmander did as he was told, but had to hold onto the rock tightly as the Pidgey used Gust.

The next time the Pidgey came in for an attack I timed it just so it wouldn't have time to pull out. "Grab it" I said. The other trainer's eyes widened. " Pidgey stop!" he yelled desperately.

Too late. The Pidgey flew into Charmander and he made a little sound of pain from the impact and Pidgey's sharp beak but held on tight. The Pidgey thrashed around, trying to get free, scratching Charmander with its sharp talons in the process.

"Bash it against the rock" I winced as I heard the little bird cry out in pain. "Now Ember" it wasn't as strong as Flame Burst, but it did its job.

The boy sighed grumpily as he recalled his fainted Pokémon. He chucked something on the ground and walked off. I picked Charmander up and set him on my shoulder, careful to avoid his injuries.

After he went out of sight, I went over and had a look at the object. It was a small orb around the size of my fist, golden light shining from the inside.

 _Light_ _Ball_.

Pichu squealed in delight. He hopped down from my shoulder and went over to the orb, eyes as wide as saucers.

I picked it up and stowed it away. Pichu looked disappointed. "Chuuu" he squeaked.

"I'll give it back to you when you're a Pikachu" I promised. Pichu seemed satisfied.

I headed off to the Viridian Pokémon Center to get my Charmander healed before I set out for Pewter. And since it was late in the afternoon, maybe I'd spend the night there too.


	4. This Wasn't In The Map!

**Apologies for the late update. I kinda got sick and was confined to bed without a device.**

 **In compensation, I have made this chapter extra long (tell me if you guys prefer shorter chapters).**

* * *

Chapter Three: This Wasn't In The Map!

* * *

Viridian City, huh? This isn't like how the game depicted it at all! Even from a distance, I could see massive skyscrapers, helicopters, lots of trained Pokémon flying around with people on their backs, etc. It wasn't like the Manga version of it, either.

I swear, if I didn't find the bloody Pokécenter soon I'll hurt something. The fact I have to carry my lazy excuses for Pokémon didn't help at all. I'd already gotten several offers to sell Charmander. That lizard attracts too much attention.

A Pikachu zipped past me at lightning speed out of nowhere. Then a mob of people waving a varied assortment of nets and other trapping devices stampeded by, all shouting in a colourful language unsuited for the ears of little kids.

I followed them out of simple curiosity, returning my Pokémon despite the squeaks and whines of protest. I simply could not be bothered to carry them anymore.

The congregation of people gathered around the Pikachu, who had stopped, cheeks sparking. A very brave (or possibly stupid) fellow pounced, attempting to catch the Pokémon with his bare hands. Needless to say, he was rushed off to hospital soon after.

I prodded a nearby lady in the shoulder. "What's going on here?" I had to shout above the din to make myself heard.

"This annoying pest stole our produce! We're putting a stop to its mischief!" She replied.

Huh. It's _that_ bit of the story, then. I thought this was suppose to happen in Pewter.

"It ate my apples!" A guy shouted.

"Ruined my berries!"

"The creature stole my phone!"

The image of a small Pikachu playing Pokémon Go flitted across my mind, prompting me to snigger weirdly while standing in the middle of the street.

Just then, a familiar boy wearing a red cap stepped out, with a Bulbasaur at his side.

Red.

I had a million questions just then, like: _Where's your Charmander? How'd you get the Bulbasaur? Did you trade your starter away or something? And Do you wear the same clothes all the time, or just have an endless supply of the same outfit?_

The Pikachu and the Bulbasaur eyed each other warily. Then Pikachu jumped forwards and unleashed a blast of electricity with an almighty _Bang_!

The crowd oohed.

The light faded away, revealing a still-standing Bulbasaur. The Pikachu squeaked in surprise as Red clicked his fingers and a jet of powder streamed from Bulbasaur's bulb.

The crowd ahhed.

After a moment of apparently nothing, Pikachu suddenly wobbled, and faceplanted into the ground. Red spun a Pokéball on his finger and casually flicked it towards the Pikachu.

It was an instant capture.

And the crowd went wild!

Rushing towards Red, the mob picked him up and carried him. Just before he went out of sight, he spotted me and dipped his head as a sign of greeting. I waved back enthusiastically.

Then I went back to my miserable task of looking for the Pokécenter.

* * *

I handed my Pokéballs to Nurse Joy and plonked myself down on a chair with a groan. How nice it this? Apparently the Pokécenters provide free food and lodging for every Pokémon trainer who stops by.

I flipped out my Pokédex and started surfing the Pokénet. Yes, I've recently found out that my 'Dex doubles as a phone. Sweet, right?

I'd just gotten to the fun bit of a story where someone is getting attacked by a drop-bear when my food arrived. With both my Pokéballs on a nice little tray.

I took the Pokéballs and let Charmander out first. He looked a little disoriented and a little grumpy but was otherwise fine. Then I opened Pichu's Pokéball.

Bad mistake.

Pichu leapt out with all the fury of a tiny mouse trapped inside a small round object for a tad too long and used Thundershock. On me.

It was super effective!

As I ran around screaming, I mentally sighed. This is a little cliché, ain't it? It's just like when Ash got his Pikachu- right down to the part about not liking Pokéballs.

I refuse to be Ash.

Because I actually plan on winning a Leag-

And then I proceeded to smack headfirst into multiple solid objects.

* * *

I sat down on my bed with a bandage wrapped around my head and glared at the troublemaking Pichu, who simply glared back. Charmander stood on the bedside table between us like a judge in his court, casting patronizing looks at us with his stubby little arms folded.

"You know, if you didn't want to be returned to your Pokéball you could have just _told_ me nicely"

"Chu!" The aforementioned mouse squeaked grumpily. "Chu pi!"

"Whatever that means. Anyway, you could also have gotten off me and walked. Then I wouldn't have had to return you."

"Pipichu!"

"I don't speak Pokémon. But I have a proposition in mind. I promise not to force you into your Pokéball if you walk when I get tired. And if you promised to _never_ zap me again after today." I said in a serious voice.

Pichu suddenly had an innocent look on his face. He offered his paw for me to shake.

I took the tiny hand between my thumb and forefinger and gave it a gentle shake. Pichu got a nasty glint in his eye.

Before I could pull away, Pichu's cheeks sparked and I got another shock. I tumbled back with a yelp and fell off the bed.

I glared up at the smug mouse.

"I thought we had an agreement!"

" _Awr."_ Charmander huffed, pointing a tiny claw at the calendar. _You_ _said_ after _today_. He seemed to say.

"Point." I admitted. Then I climbed back to my bed and shot Pichu a death glare. "If you zap me again I swear I'll give you to a three year old as a pet."

Pichu shuddered at the thought.

* * *

 _Next_ _day_

* * *

After I picked up a map of Viridian Forest from the Pokécenter, I made a trip to the Pokémart. I bought food for both myself and my Pokémon as well as plenty of water, potions, and as many Pokéballs as I could afford. I used up all my money, but at least I was prepared for getting lost in Viridian Forest. Apparently that happened very often.

Red and Blue must have already gone on, because there wasn't a peek of them anywhere. I was hoping to catch up to them by _not_ getting lost in the forest.

"What's the date today?" I spoke into my Pokédex. Just to make sure I know how much time I spend in the Viridian Forest.

 _"It is the Fifty-First of July."_ It answered in an electronic voice.

"There aren't even that many days in a month!" I exclaimed, getting some weird looks from other people.

The Pokédex paused. " _There are approximately sixty days in a month"_ it replied in monotone.

Oh. That explains it. So the 'ten year-olds' Prof send on dangerous journeys are actually twenty year olds in Earth age. Means people here live twice as long as we do. I wondered if that applied to me too.

Not wanting to overthink it, I set off for a nice stroll to Viridian Forest.

* * *

 _Warning_ : _Dangerous_ _Pokémon_ _ahead_! I read on a sign. Pfft. As if. Caterpie and Weedle hardly fall into the "dangerous" category.

Right on cue, a kid burst out of the forest shrieking his head off. He ran past me and skidded to a stop, walking backwards until he was in front of me again. Charmander growled at him angrily from his place by my side.

"Oh, it's _you"_ I recognized the trainer I battled (cough cough curbstomped cough cough) yesterday as he spoke.

"Nice to see you too." I muttered under my breath.

"Don't go in there." He continued as if I hadn't spoken. "I was assaulted by a swarm of Wurmple and then attacked by a drop bear! A trainer like _you_ wouldn't last nearly as long as I did!"

Wait, run that by me again? You were attacked by a _drop_ _bear_?! I didn't know those lived in Kanto!

However, before I could voice my thoughts, he went back to dramatically screaming and running away.

Weird.

Needless to say, I didn't heed his warning at all.

* * *

Once inside, I was immediately lost. The map was completely useless (I may have discovered I had the thing upside-down after an hour or so of walking), and the further I walked, the more convinced I was that I would be here for days. Charmander and Pichu occasionally wandered off, coming back with berry juice all over their faces.

The dark green canopy was so thick I couldn't tell if it was day or night outside.

After hours of just endless green shrubbery and the odd bug Pokémon (easily dealt with), I stopped to make camp. My Pokédex told me it was 7:34pm and I simply could not be bothered to walk anymore.

I grabbed a sandwich for myself. My Pokémon were full from all the berries anyway. If I fed them anymore they'd become obese. I lifted the food to my mouth-

And bit my fingers instead.

Yelping, I shook my hand and looked around for the sandwich thief. Charmander jumped to his feet, snarling. Pichu simply stayed lying down where he was without a care in the world.

A shadow swept past overhead.

Charmander spat a burst of fire towards the thing, illuminating a feathery wing.

So, a bird, then.

"Pichu! Get your butt off the ground! Shock this chicken or whatever! It stole my sandwich!" I yelled. Pichu cracked open a beady black eye. Then closed it again. Grrr. That arrogant mouse.

That happened just before the flying thing snatched him off the ground.

Charmander leapt, claws flashing, but only caught a tuft of tawny feathers. I cried out something unintelligible. There was a bright flash from somewhere above and a 'Chuuuu!' before something fell to the ground with a thump. I was holding an empty Pokéball at the moment and simply chucked it at the Pokémon out of reflex. It missed the bird by a few feet and hit a tree behind it, bouncing off to roll on the ground. By sheer luck, it hit the downed bird on the way back. Just as the Pokémon started to get back up, it was enveloped in a spray of white light.

 _Twitch_.

 _Twitch_.

 _Twitch_.

 _Twitch_.

 _DING_!

The blue light flashed once on the Pokéball button, signifying a successful capture. I carefully picked it up. Pichu, who was pinned under the bird a moment ago, got to his feet and staggered about drunkenly. I think he might have been Confused.

I called Charmander over and tossed the Pokéball lightly into the air. A flash of white light and a sudden gust of wind spewed out of the sphere. The light faded away to reveal a startled Pidgeotto lying on its side with puffed-up feathers from Pichu's Thundershock. It faintly resembled an oversized pom-pom.

It was bigger than both Charmander and Pichu combined, and judging by the fact it's a Pidgeotto, probably has higher levels than both of them too.

Charmander's claws glowed white as Pidgeotto got to its feet. It scrutinized me calmly, and I stared right back. The golden eyes blinked once. Since it didn't immediately try to murder me, I took it as a sign of acceptance. I fished out my Pokédex and scanned it.

 _This Pidgeotto is female._

 _Level: 19_

 _Ability: Keen Eye_

 _Current Moveset: Gust, Tackle, Sand-Attack, Whirlwind, Wing Attack, Air Slash._

 _Egg Move: Steel Wing_

Nothing funny about Pidgeotto's ability, then. Damn, a Pidgeotto with Wonder Guard would have been cool.

"Want a name?"

The bird tilted her head and inclined slightly.

"How 'bout Aria?"

She nodded.

"Awright. I really need to sleep now. But at least we won't be lost tomorrow" Aria could scout for us. I'd beat Red and Blue to Pewter!

* * *

I was woken up by a roar. I bolted upright and looked around wildly, expecting to be attacked by Mightyena. Or Professor Oak's grumpy Dragonite.

It was then my Pokédex suddenly said:" _Your Charmander has learned Roar."_

I was greeted with the sight of a very pissed off Charmander standing on the chest of a boy, claws waving around in a threatening fashion. Aria was watching the scene from a safe distance on her perch, while Pichu had wandered closer to watch the show, popping berries in his mouth like popcorn.

"Care to tell me what exactly you are doing here?" I asked grumpily, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

It was the annoying boy again. I just can't seem to get rid of him, like how you can't really get rid of the stains dead insects leave on the wall after you squish them.

"Er... " the trainer stuttered. Charmander growled threateningly, a puff of flame spurting from his nose.

The guy yelped in alarm. "Fine! I was trying to steal your Pokémon!" My hands curled into fists and I considered bashing him right then. Seeing this, he quickly added: "To get my Pokémon back! A group of creepy spastics robbed me! They had red Rs on their clothes and kept saying stuff about rockets."

My eyes widened. So Team Rocket was robbing people in Viridian now?

"You gotta get my Pokémon back." He begged. "I only have my Rattatatata- how many 'ta's were there again?- because I hid his Pokéball in my pants-"

"I didn't want to know that." I interrupted him. "Go to Pallet Town and get Professor Oak, or Gym Leader Brock from Pewter. My Pokémon aren't strong enough to take on Team Rocket."

"I don't have time to find my way out of this bloody forest, let alone get to Pallet or Pewter. By the time I do that, it'd be too damned late!" He exclaimed. When you hear a ten year old swearing...

I gave him a deadpan look. "Don't expect _me_ to do anything about it." I said.

The trainer looked ready to cry. 'Nidoran is my starter' he said in a wobbly voice.

I stared at him for a moment. I imagined someone taking my Charmander from me, or even the headstrong, destructive Pichu.

As if sensing my thoughts, Charmander looked up from his position on the boy's chest and gave me a reassuring huff.

"Fine." I sighed. Charmander got off his chest and let him sit up. Coincidentally, Pichu had just finished his berries and burped. I scowled at him. "We're going to a dangerous place full of dangerous stuff. You can do all the destroying things _there_ , you spaz. Now get your ass moving or I'll leave you behind for Team Rocket to find."

Pichu grumbled a bit in Pokémon, but got his butt off the ground. Aria flew down from her perch, eliciting a startled yelp from the other trainer. He obviously hadn't noticed her watching us the whole time.

"They went that way" he pointed. "I followed them and found a tree with a camouflaged button set into it."

"Not obvious at all." I said sarcastically. "By the way, we still don't know each other's names."

"Oh, I hadn't thought of that. Can I just keep calling you Girl?"

"Yes, if I could keep calling you Loser."

"Aww. What's your name, then? My name's James." He said with an air of pride, as if his name was special.

"Call me Aster" I stated.

"Isn't that the name of a flower?"

"Shut. Up." Touchy subject. Don't go there.

* * *

We arrived in front of a tree. With a very obvious button on it.

 _Is it just me, or does everyone in this world lack common sense?_

I hit the button hard with the flat of my palm. There was a shriek, the sound of something tumbling down a staircase, and I suddenly realized James wasn't where he was standing anymore.

"What was that for?! Are you trying to kill me?" He yelled from the bottom of the hidden staircase.

"Don't tempt me." I muttered under my breath.

Let's skip the bit about walking down the stairs.

I scanned my surroundings. Corridors, corridors, more corridors. The Rocket base looked like some sort of giant underground lab you generally see in movies.

"Right. Let's not split up now, since it would make us easier targets" I said, stating a very obvious fact.

Fortunately, there seemed to be no one around at the moment. We went down a corridor, found a lift, took it, and ended up on a floor with lots of rooms. I found what looked like an office and went in, hoping for a map of this place or something. I admit, being here is starting to freak me out. If someone comes this way I'll be roadkill in a matter of seconds.

The annoying guy was looking around in a drawer, probably raiding the office owner's junk food stash or something. There was a lighter sitting on the table, which Charmander was sniffing at curiously. Pichu had run off somewhere along the line to vandalize machines, and Aria was currently residing in her Pokéball.

Nothing interesting here. I walked out of the office-

And came face to face with the ugliest nose I wish I'd never seen.

"Holy Mew!" I cried. "It's Squidward! It's Squidward! _Arrggh_! Get it away from me!"

The bald Team Rocket guy didn't seem very happy to see me either. His impressively large nose wrinkled in distaste.

"Kids shouldn't meddle in grown-ups' business." He growled. Typical grown up. He sounds like my eldest brother when I try to take part in a conversation between him and his girlfriend.

Then he sent out a Gloom and a Aerodactyl.

I sent out Aria, and Charmander stared down the Aerodactyl which was at least six times as big as him. Then the Pokémon proceeded to simply fall on each other with no regard for strategy.

Aria frantically spammed Air Slash and Gust to both attack and blow away the razor sharp petals Gloom was blowing everywhere. I had to duck once in a while to avoid getting a pixie-cut. Charmander used his small size to his advantage, as we were fighting in a very tight space, dodging attacks and occasionally blowing fire, but never getting too close.

Flame Bursts, Razor Leafs, and Gust mixed together at times, creating mayhem.

It was total chaos.

It was then Charmander decided to go in for a close-ranged attack. His claws flashed white and he launched himself at Aerodactyl-

"YEAH!" I yelled loudly. "FUS RO-"

Aerodactyl punched Charmander, and he went flying down the hallway. I ask you, how the hell do you expect a pterosaur to _punch_?

"-Fail." I finished lamely.

Aerodactyl went after Charmander, so I went into the office, picked up a chair, and set off in pursuit.

Charmander was lying again a wall, looking stunned. Aerodactyl started preparing a Hyper Beam.

Kids, do not do this at home.

"EAT CHAIR!" I yelled.

I jumped onto the Pokémon's back and hit it on the head with the chair. It faltered, Hyper Beam flickering out. In an instant Charmander was up. Between Charmander's attacks and my chair skills, it didn't stand a chance.

Within seconds it was sprawled on the floor, unconscious. I gave Charmander a high five (high paw?)as we caught our breaths. As soon as we'd recovered, I picked up Charmander and ran back to the battle, carrying him like a machine gun.

"Ember!" I yelled, aiming Charmander's mouth towards Gloom. Charmander fired off a barrage of fiery pellets, but it just got caught in the miniature tornado that was going on at the moment.

Suddenly, Pichu scuttled into view out of nowhere, gripping a cigarette lighter in his paws. Speeding into the melee with a Quick Attack, he made a beeline towards Gloom. As soon as he reached it he lifted his arms-

And lit the Gloom on fire with the cigarette lighter.

The sight was so comical that despite my surprise, I laughed. In fact, I laughed so hard that I dropped Charmander. He tumbled to the ground in a flash of golden scales and shot me a dirty look.

Pichu snapped the lid of the lighter closed and looked at me smugly. In the background, the still-flaming Gloom shrieked and ran into multiple walls in a desperate attempt to escape the flames, before finally giving up and doing a pathetic faceplant (face _plant._ Get it?) into the ground.

The grunt I'd taken to calling Squidward gulped, and bolted. Jerk. He didn't even pick his poor Pokémon up!

James poked his head out of the office and looked around nervously. "Is he gone now?" He asked in a small voice. I sighed in exasperation. "Yes, you dandy. Get your ass out here and actually help next time."

"I'm going after him. Stay here if you like." I secretly hoped he'd stay and get caught by Team Rocket. But nope, no such luck. He followed me as I ran in the general direction of Squidward's escapade.

Lots of corridors. I passed one with a pile of files heaped against the wall. The second one was empty of everything including squids, and I turned into the third corridor, following the sound of footsteps.

As soon as I went around the corner, I literally ran into someone, knocking us both sprawling to the ground.

The very obviously non-Team Rocket boy glared as he picked himself up. He had spiky brown hair, electric blue eyes, and was wearing his trademark locket.

"Oh, it's _you_." Me and Blue spoke at the same time in condescending tones.

"What are you doing here?" I snapped as I placed my fallen cap back onto my head.

"Invading a Team Rocket base to train my Pokémon. What does it look like?" He replied sarcastically. _That's not a bad idea_ , I mused to myself. "No, I fell into a random disguised hole in the Viridian Forest and ended up in an even bigger hole crawling with people obsessed with rockets. What are _you_ doing here?"

"This guy here-" I nodded towards James who had just arrived, panting, on the scene. "-dragged me into this rat nest to retrieve his Pokémon for him." The said person was now gawping at Blue, probably wondering why he was here.

"I propose an alliance." Blue said coolly. 'Until we get out of this place." He held out a hand.

"Deal." I shook his hand."Stop standing in that spot and get your butt moving, James. Or Team Rocket might start charging you rent.' I turned my attention back to Blue. "Have you seen a guy resembling Squidward- you know, big nose, bald- run past?"

"Yes. A few moments ago. Why?"

"Because he might raise the alarm." I replied.

"Do you know where he's going?" James asked, trying to assert himself into the conversation.

I snorted. "Based on a brief character analysis, probably back to the Crusty Crab restaurant."

Blue gave me a really weird look. "You watch too much SpongeBob Squarepants."

 _No, Blue. Judging by the fact that you know what I'm talking about, I'd say_ you _have been watching to much SpongeBob Squarepants too._

Just then, a loud voice came from a loudspeaker somewhere.

" _Attention, the base has been breached. The intruder was last sighted in Area Northeast, Section A6. Please prepare your Pokémon for battle."_

I smacked myself in the face. 'Crap. I knew I shouldn't have come here'

"Wait a moment" Blue suddenly said. "This is Area Northwest, Section B16. I saw it on the sign just over there."

"Sooooo..." I began.

"It means there's another person who isn't Team Rocket in here" Blue finished for me.

"We're still undetected- for the moment" I stated. "Let's not wast time standing around doing nothing." My Pokémon, who had appeared out of nowhere (probably raiding food stashes again), squeaked, growled, and cawed in agreement.

Blue scrutinized my Pokémon for a moment, before inclining his head in agreement and gesturing for me to lead. I started walking down the corridor at a quick pace, and the other two trainers followed me.

"We need to find where they keep the captured Pokémon." I said as we went past a room packed with machines.

"Is that, by any case, a room labeled 'Pokémon Storage'?" Blue asked casually.

"Probably." I answered, wondering what he was thinking. He smirked and showed me a map of the place.

"Where did you get that?" I asked in surprise.

"Off a billboard in front of an office." He pointed to a spot on the map. "Pokémon Storage, Area Northwest, Section D29. We'd better find a lift."

After a bit of searching, we found one. But as soon as we got into it, we heard something extremely unwelcome.

" _Attention, intruders have been sighted in Area Northwest, Section B17."_ Boomed a voice from somewhere.

Blue cursed colourfully. 'Language' I snapped. He ignored me and went to press a button in the lift, labeled "D". We began a painfully slow descent.

"What sort of Pokémon do you have?" James asked Blue out of nowhere. Instead of answering, Blue plucked three Pokéballs off his belt, clicking on the buttons. A light spray of water erupted from one, revealing Squirtle. Another Pokéball released a ball of white light, and the last one spat out a gust of air, which coalesced into the forms of a Rattata and a Pidgey.

Charmander went over to the Pokémon with an air of curiosity, while Pichu looked disinterested. My Pidgeotto was once again in her Pokéball, due to the lack of space in the elevator.

Just as I got fed up with waiting, the elevator doors chimed softly and opened. Blue strode out first, looking at his map, followed by all the Pokémon and me. James was the last one out, looking around fearfully as if expecting the walls to bite him.

Charmander seemed to have gotten attached to Blue's Pokémon, hanging around them and occasionally holding conversations. I wondered at what they were talking about. Complaining about their trainers, probably.

I took the silence between the trainers as a chance to start a conversation.

"Blue?"

"Yes?"

"Why doesn't Red talk? He's not really mute, is he?" I fully expected him to not answer.

Blue was silent for what seemed to be a very long moment. "You're very observant, aren't you? How do you know he's not mute?" He said at last.

 _Because Red definitely wasn't mute in the manga, and no one said anything about him being mute in the game_. But I didn't say that. Instead, I just said:"Because he doesn't act like a mute person." And hoped Blue wouldn't find anything suspicious.

"His father was murdered by a gang of criminals when he was five." Blue said softly. "He saw the whole thing. Hasn't spoken a word to anyone ever since."

Not knowing what to do in touchy-feely moments, I just responded with an 'Oh'. We walked in silence after that.

Blue abruptly stopped, his Rattata crashing into his leg. I darted up to him to see what was going on, and paled.

On the other side of the hallway stood a bunch of Team Rocket grunts armed with a squadron of Koffing, Rattata, and Zubat.

We stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity, not speaking, not stepping any closer.

"In my very limited experience, the best cause of action to take here..." Blue trailed off. We all stared at him.

"Shit, never mind." He sighed. "Just run for your bloody lives." And we did just that.

We bolted past rooms full of boxes; rooms full of machines; rooms full of bloodied tools... I flinched, thinking about which unfortunate being had been at the wrong end of the sharp objects.

Blue shook my shoulder hard, breaking my train of thought. "Keep running!" He yelled. 'Don't stop!"

Behind me, James was being something of a whiner. "I'm tired!'"He complained. We just ignored him as per usual.

I stopped staring at the rooms and focused on running hell for leather out of there. The Rockets were still behind us, firing the occasional attack our way.

"Listen," Blue gasped after a while. "We can't keep this up forever." We were all puffing and panting, though the Pokémon seemed fine. "You take James to the storage and get his Pokémon back. I'll distract them. After you're done, come back and help me." He handed me his map.

I nodded. Taking Aria's Pokéball from my belt, I called her out and pressed the Pokéball into Blue's hand. "She's my highest leveled Pokémon."

"I can't command her." Blue complained. 'She's your Pokémon'

I stared at him in surprise. 'My Pokémon don't need commands to fight'

With a 'hurry up, doofus' to James, I took one quick look at the map and darted off in a direction, James hurrying after me.

Left turn, left turn, straight on and... voilà! We quickly slipped in the Pokémon Storage room, making sure nobody saw us in the process. James tried to open the door by turning the doorknob, pushing at it, pulling at it, and finally, kicking it. He failed quite spectacularly, bouncing off the door to land on his behind and proceeding to swear colourfully. "It needs a security card to open." he complained, rubbing his sore foot.

I smirked, and sauntered up to it, brushing a card against the panel on the side. Noting the other trainer's surprised look, I shrugged and said:"Pichu has very fast paws. He nicked Squidward's wallet. I think I have enough money to make it to Cerulean now."

There were neatly labeled boxes. Some said "Trained Pokémon" and the others said 'Untrained Pokémon'. Some were labeled 'Common', 'Rare' and 'Special' . In the corner, there was a heavily padlocked metal safe with a sign attached to it saying 'Important Pokémon Do Not Touch'. I checked to make sure James didn't see me, and quietly plucked an Ultra Ball from a box labeled 'Untrained Pokémon Special' and slipped it into my pocket. James had found his Pidgey, and was now looking for his starter, Nidoran.

Sounds of footsteps grew louder and louder. I hissed a warning at the unwary trainer just as a group of Team Rocket grunts burst into the room. They made a circle around us and blocked any path of escape.

"Look what we have here." a woman with a Golbat sneered. "A couple of _children_ just like the one we met in the hallway'."I remembered the room with the bloody tools and wondered with a sudden panic whether Blue was still alive. And whether Aria was okay. Charmander whined softly, thinking the same about his newfound friends.

As if in answer, a burly man shuffled to the front, carrying a limp form. Blue! Now I have to find out if he's still alive. "The oversized pigeon and the turtle got away, but that hardly matters." The woman continued. I barely suppressed a smile. If Aria got away, at least she wasn't dead. Also...

"Squirtle is a _tortoise._ " I scowled.

The big guy blinked. "But it says 'Tiny Turtle Pokémon' on the Pokéinfo page." He said, scratching his head ponderously.

"Now look here, you ignoramus-"

The woman just ignored me and talked straight on.

"I'll admit, the boy fought well. He took down most of our Pokémon. But in the end, Team Rocket always wins." Okay, okay. Stop right there. The villain monologue is boring and cliché. Just tell me if Blue is dead or not.

I made a gesture at Charmander. Understanding the message, Charmander used Roar, forcing all the Team Rocket Pokémon back into their Pokéballs.

"Stop!" The woman yelled. Not so smug now, are you. "If you move another step, we'll snap his neck." Actually, now I come to think of it, that would be most convenient.

Just then, Blue's fingers gave a slight twitch. I could have been seeing things, but I also remembered what happened when Koga tried to kill him in the manga.

"Oh my Arceus!" I yelled, pointing dramatically at something outside the door. "Could that be... MEW?"

All the Rockets instantly looked where I pointed, and things happened very fast.

First of all, Blue revealed himself to be _not_ unconscious, and flicked something into the air with surprising speed. The big man who was holding him then found himself being Skull Bashed by an angry Wartortle, Probably thinking:'Oh, so the tortoise _hadn't_ gotten away after all' as he fainted.

The Rockets looked back from where I was pointing and found Blue at our side, armed with a dangerous tortoise. Meanwhile, I was still trying to take in the fact that the Squirtle I saw five minutes ago was now a Wartortle. Blue must have done some intense training.

"You didn't hit him hard enough!" The woman yelled at the now unconscious guy. She reached over him and pressed something on the wall.

Then, all of a sudden, we found ourselves in a cage which had suddenly dropped down from the ceiling. "HA!" The Rocket yelled in glee, dancing around in triumph. "I knew installing a pointless cage in the ceiling would come in handy one day." Is it just me, or is that a mental asylum escapee? The rest of the Rockets just looked at each other in an exasperated manner.

The woman leered evilly. "If I press this button, the cage will become charged with enough electricity to fry you to ashes." What did I say about cliché again? On the other hand, being fried to ashes may offset my ambitious plan to win a Pokémon League. _Lance, don't you think you're escaping from this. I'm still coming for you._

The other two trainers in the cage were shouting now, trying to find a way to break the cage with their various Pokémon. I just acted casual and scanned Wartortle with my Pokédex. Apparently it was Level.18. Yeesh, that's a lot of Youngster Joeys with their high percentage Rattata who's had their dreams crushed in the past two days.

"This isn't fair!" James wailed. "What have I done to deserve this?"

"Bad life choices. We've all made some." I patted him on the head. "Next time 'round, get a starter Pokémon from a legit Pokémon Professor instead of catching it yourself, I hear-"

Crazy Lady got tired of watching us banter, and pressed the Button Of Doom, cackling like a retarded goose.

There was a bright flash as the other two trainers cried out and Charmander put his little paws over his eyes and all the other Pokémon made a dogpile (Poképile?) in their desperate attempt to escape-

Nothing.

"-That Professor Oak in Pallet Town still has a Bulbasaur left as a starter Pokémon." I continued as if nothing had happened.

Pichu mimed eating something and licked his lips smugly as he absorbed the last traces of electricity.

"Nah." Blue said lazily, snapping his Pokédex shut as he leaned against the bars of the cage. I've a feeling he just found out about Pichu's improbable abilities. "Bulbasaur got stolen yesterday."

"Pity." I replied. Seems like Green already made her move.

"WHAT!" Crazy Lady screamed, jabbing the buttons repeatedly. There was a series of flashes, but nothing much happened.

"I'd suggest evolving your Nidoran." I told James cheerily. "Nidoking are _beast._ And you might want to do something about that Pidgey. Then you can just fly anywhere you want if you have a Pidgeot."

"Yeah." James seemed to pick up the joke. "I'd need a water type. I don't think I'd make enough money to get a boat ticket to Cinnabar. I'm going for something like a Gyarados- so I wouldn't get eaten by a Sharpedo while Surfing to Cinnabar."

"Going for the League too? Same here, I'm on my way to Pewter at the moment- Wait a sec, I think Pichu's overcharging."

The little mouse seemed to be having a problem digesting the electricity. He glowed from inside out, and had a strained look on his face. I was worried Pichu would Selfdestruct on us, in which case we'd be toast. Almost literally.

"Pichu!" I called. "Use Thundershock! You need to get rid of the extra electricity." But the stubborn mouse shook his head.

Then, before I could say 'Stubborn Mouse', a vortex of lightning erupted from Pichu, engulfing him.

I cried out and shielded my face from the excruciating brightness. After what seemed like an eternity, the light dimmed, leaving stars dancing across my vision. I opened my eyes slowly.

In Pichu's place, a Pikachu was blinking in bewilderment.

" _Congratulations. Your Pichu evolved into a Pikachu."_ The Pokédex droned from my pocket.

"Pika..."

Pikachu jumped up, and performed a contest-worthy flip. He executed a perfect Iron Tail on the bars, making a huge hole in a matter of moments. I could not have felt prouder then.

" _Your Pikachu has learned Iron Tail."_ One of these days, I'll find a way to shut that thing up.

About a second after that, things became quite chaotic.

Blue and James got out of the cage, Pokémon following. Then the Pokémon present proceeded to get into a massive brawl, started by a roar of thunder fired off by Pikachu.

" _Your Pikachu has learnt Thunderbolt."_ I get the point. Shut up, mister obvious.

A tumultuous racket started up as all sorts of Pokémon performed all sorts of attacks. Pikachu leapt up onto a bench, pushing a box full of Pokéballs tumbling to the floor, releasing even more Pokémon into the already furious mayhem.

Then, the knight in red jacket arrived.

A Charmander who was not my own unleashed a Flamethrower at a bunch of Zubat, fainting most of them instantly. Not to be shown up, my gold-scaled buddy fired his own Flamethrower at some Ekans. My Pokédex said the usual thing when one of my Pokémon learns a move, and I tuned it out.

"Hey Red!" I yelled across the room with a huge, stupid grin plastered on my face. "You're late for the party!"

Red gave me a distracted wave and released a Bulbasaur and a Pikachu to join the fray. I fished the Ultra Ball I'd nicked earlier out of my pocket and chucked it. "Go, Pokémon that I hope is a Dragonite or something!"

But nope, no such luck.

A dainty yellow fox with five tails emerged from the Ultra Ball instead.

 _Aw, c'mon._ I groaned internally. _I mean, Shiny Vulpixes are cool, but they're mostly for show._

A moment later, I changed my mind when the said fox casually fired a blast of white light at a passing Koffing, dropping it to the ground, and went back to licking its paws. I scanned it with my annoying Pokédex.

 _This Vulpix is male._

 _Level: 15_

 _Ability1: Drought. Ability2: Flash Fire._

 _Current Moveset: Quick Attack, Dig, Feint, Feint Attack, Fire Spin, Foul Play, SolarBeam, Substitute._

 _Egg Move: Hypnosis._

 _The unusual colouring of this Pokémon suggests it is a Shiny._

Aw. SCORE!

Hidden Abilty Vulpixes (Vulpixes that have Drought as an ability) can practically use SolarBeam at will because of Drought. It also means HA Vulpixes have an advantage over Water-Types, despite being a Fire-Type.

 _I'm SO keeping this one. Thanks, Team Rocket!_

"Ummm..." I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Go faint stuff."

The fox ran gleefully to join the battle. Seriously, are all Pokémon this eager to fight?

 _"We_ all got into this by accident." Blue muttered from somewhere. "But I'll bet all my travel allowance that Red found his way down here on _purpose."_ I think his travel allowance is quite safe on that account.

More Team Rocket people joined the fight, but that just prompted Pikachu to push more boxes off benches, adding reinforcements to our side. The walls were now none-existent, having been blown apart quite some time ago.

Slowly but surely, our incredibly large force of Pokémon- who where mostly in their first evolutionary stages- overwhelmed Team Rocket, forcing them to recall their fainted Pokémon and flee.

As the last of the Team Rocket fled for their lives out of the battered room, we breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"Right." I said tiredly. "Let's call Officer Jenny and get the Hell out of here, shall we?"


	5. Pewter

Chapter Four: Pewter

* * *

"Right." I said, rubbing my eyes. We were, at that moment, twenty feet above the ground due to my paranoia, wedged uncomfortably into various nooks on a tree. Let's just say the run-in with a certain something has made me a little paranoid.

A rustling sound came from the branches above, making Charmander and Pikachu stiffen. They relaxed when the feathery shape of Aria glided down a branch. Shoot, if I stay any longer in this creepy forest I was going to go crazy. It's not that Team Rocket gave me a fright (pshaw. Please, that was relatively small fry).

It's just that I am now properly terrified of bug Pokémon (I've always hated most bug species. They seem always to want to latch onto me and not let go). Those ridiculous Wurmples and Caterpies and Joltiks and ugh, that stupid James- he _is_ slimy enough to count as a species of slug.

Viridian Forest was _filled_ with bugs. You name it, and you can generally find whichever disgusting creature you're looking for clinging to your clothes within the next three seconds. I spent most of the day screaming and running around with my Pokémon tagging behind who would _occasionally_ (and _only_ occasionally, those bastards!) help me with my plight. My Pidgeotto generally ended up eating them, which I found rather satisfying (I know I'm cruel), but once she got full even _she_ wouldn't have anything to do with it.

Those useless things.

I packed up my sleeping bags and got ready to go. According to Aria (Nope. I still can't speak Pokémon. We communicated through lots of wing-flapping, cawing, weird gestures, and general misunderstanding), we could make it out of the forest today if we hurried. At this moment, any bug-free place would be a paradise for me.

Just as I made it down, a flash of gold fur bolted past me, and raced around me in circles for a few seconds. The hyperactive fox sat down, and showed me the cutest expression I'd ever seen.

I was surprised. I hadn't seen Vulpix since we got out of Team Rocket's hideout. I had to release him once I realised that yes, taking him with me would count as an act of theft if he wasn't willing to go with me. I was perfectly happy while _not_ spending time with Officer Jenny for stealing, thank you very much.

"Hiya, little fella." I knelt down and patted his head. The fox made a sound almost like a purr and butted his head against my hand. Behind me, I could hear Charmander growling. I got the feeling it was something rude, judging by Pikachu's snickering.

Vulpix snuffled around my pockets and fished something out, before dropping the object at my feet. He sat there patiently as I picked the shrunken Pokéball up.

"Are you sure?" Oh, who am I kidding? Mentally, I was shrieking _Yes! Yes! Yes!_ so loudly I was almost afraid the Pokémon in the clearing would hear me. I wasn't gonna look a gift Vulpix in the mouth any day, nosiree.

I knew the next town was Pewter, and Brock is the Gym Leader there. An infinite supply of Solarbeam uses at my disposal wouldn't go wrong unless the Gym roof got blown off, in which case I'd have to pay the bills.

Look out, Brock. I'm coming for you with an army of magic animals.

* * *

I walked out of the TM shop in Pewter feeling satisfied. I'd paid to use a HM Flash on all my Pokémon (Oh goody. Now my oversized pigeon can throw a disco party in a dark cave. Who came up with that idea?).

At least this time I found the Pokécenter relatively easily, with only an hour of searching and walking into multiple dead-ends and Pikachu stealing a guy's- never mind.

"We hope to see you again!" the Nurse Joy said brightly. Why would you want to see me again? The only reason I'd come back here would be because my weird magicky animals got beaten up so badly I had to rush them to hospital. Are you hoping I'd lose all my Pokémon battles just so I'd have to go to the same Pokécenter multiple times?

Anyway...

I'd scheduled a Gym Challenge in about half an hour- yes, apparently you have to make an appointment now. So I took advantage of the Pokécenter's training yard to watch my magical animals beat each other up for practice.

 _Charmander- Lv.14_

 _Pikachu- Lv.16_

 _Pidgeotto- Lv.20_

 _Vulpix- Lv.16_

"Not bad." I say to myself as I snapped my Pokédex shut. I'd worked out a few tricks and strategies with them too. The thing is, I've only just realised that my whole team is weak to Rock Types. Not that it really matters, of course, since all the Pokémon in my team have learnt moves that were super effective against Rock Pokémon. Every time I play Pokémon Red, my Charmander's Metal Claw was always the one to win me Brock's badge.

Charmander looked up from under Pikachu's tail, who in turn was wedged under Aria's left wing, who in turn was being sat on top of by a nonchalant Vulpix, still chewing on the remains of a sandwich.

"When I said I wanted you to fight, I meant by using your moves." I scowled. "Not a bar brawl."

Vulpix leapt off the Poképile daintily and went to find more things to eat. For a tiny, elegant fox, that thing sure eats a lot.

I cleared my throat, trying to get their attention. When that didn't work, I waved a packet of Poképuffs around.

Nope. Shouldn't have done that.

It got their attention all right. As one massive Poképuff crazed heap, they leapt at me and set to devouring the Poképuffs.

I narrowly avoided becoming roadkill and exhaled a sigh of exasperation.

Bastards, the lot of them.

I really need some human friends.

* * *

"You guys are not honestly- you know what, never mind."

Pikachu and Vulpix seemed to be engaged in a game of chess. Literally. With a proper chessboard and everything. Vulpix seemed to be winning, with a big pile of Pikachu's white pieces on his side.

I'm just gonna assume they stole the chessboard. That's the most likely scenario anyway.

"C'mon." I said impatiently as I dragged them off their stools and headed out of the Pokécenter. "We're gonna be late to whopping Brock's ass."

After a certain amount of being distracted by various roadside objects and general procrastinating (Vulpix decided to piss in someone's bicycle helmet. I hope it belonged to that smug-faced smartass- excuse me- what was his name again? Oh yeah, Blue), we found our way to the Pewter Gym.

Want me to describe it? Two words: Big, and rocky. And very big, very rocky. It looked like someone was trying to make a cake but failed miserably and ended up with a lump of something so burnt it could possibly be made into a weapon.

A bored lady with glasses sat behind a table.

"Name." she said in a very bored voice. "And the number of Badges obtained."

"Aster Silverwood." I replied, mirroring her voice. "No badges."

"Whatever." she sighed, scrawling something onto an important-looking piece of paper with a red pen. "You're just going to lose like the rest of them, kiddo. Don't get any big ideas"

 _What is wrong with you, lady? This is only the first Gym! If I lose my first Gym battle I'll write_ I'm a loser _on my face with a permanent marker. Oh yeah, I'll do the same to my Pokémon too if that's the case. Don't forget about them._

She waved me through. "Count yourself lucky if you get through the preliminary rounds, girl."

Never before have I ever wanted to break someone's glasses and and dunk their face into a pot filled with slugs, but that was what I felt like in that brief moment.

* * *

Quoting Green from the Pokémon manga: The prelims were a breeze. I'm going to skip the boring details where Pikachu and Aria one-hit KO'ed all the low-leveled rock-types with Steel type moves (Pikachu occasionally resorted to just frying them if they didn't have the Ground-type immunity to electricity- shoulda seen the looks on the trainers' faces).

Apparently the Gym trainers didn't know Electric and Flying types could learn Steel moves. Most of them looked like they'd just seen an old guy showering when their Pokémon fainted. What noobs.

Pikachu had decided to take himself back to the Pokécenter and Aria had gone with him. They were probably going to cause hell for Nurse Joy, but I let them go anyway. I didn't need them for the big fight. That was down to Char and Vulpix.

A certain squinty-eyed teen was waiting in a rocky field with a Geodude by his side. I kinda expected the Onix, so I was pretty disappointed.

The referee cleared his throat loudly. "This will be a two on two battle between Gym Leader Brock and challenger-"

"Wait." I interrupted. "I thought Brock was supposed to make this big speech about rock-hard determination or whatsit."

The teen on the opposite side of the battlefield slumped visibly as I wondered at the scene. The referee coughed in a embarrassed way.

"I've lost three matches today." Brock mumbled. "I'm not in a mood to make a speech. This is my fourth Geodude." he indicated the hunk of moving rock somewhat miserably. The Geodude glared in apparent ill-temper and crossed its arms. Brock slumped even more.

The referee coughed again before Brock could embarrass himself any further. "Let the match begin!" he said hurriedly.

I dropped Vulpix's Pokéball on the ground and he burst out in a flash of light, sending out a wave of heat and light with his Drought ability. Just before Brock called out a command, I quickly returned Vulpix and sent Charmander out instead.

Well, I just showed them my hand. Two fire types against a Rock Gym leader. If Brock was surprised, he didn't show it. I was half expecting him to give me shit for fighting with a type disadvantage, but considering the fact Red probably just passed through here and curbstomped everyone with his Pikachu, Brock probably had nothing to say.

"Defence Curl." Brock called in a dispirited way. The hunk of floating rock curled into a ball and a sheen of light flickered across it before it uncurled.

Charmander eyed it with some level of contempt, then opened his jaws wide. A needle-thin stream of flame that shone with the intensity of a laser shot out and hit the opposing Geodude with the force of a eight-bit drill piece operating at full power. The result was very satisfying.

The Geodude skidded back a good few meters and tried to pull itself back together (Literally. Bits of rock were crumbling away. How Rock-Types do that and survive without apparent crippling is a mystery to me). You could almost see stars in its eyes.

In the background, Brock was yelling incomprehensible orders. I held back a snicker. That little thread of light was actually a Flamethrower- concentrated into a thin laser. With Charmander's Solar Power ability in the Sunny Day that Vulpix's Drought set off powering the move as well, that poor ball of stone really didn't stand a chance.

The Geodude blinked a few times and shakily got its arms up in a wobbly attack stance. It blinked some more to clear its vision-

Just in time to see claws flashing a metallic silver slashing downwards.

Brock sighed and recalled the fainted Pokémon. He didn't seem to be surprised. Charmander landed back in our side of the arena with a somersault, teeth bared in a reptilian grin. The golden flame on the tip of his tail was noticeably bigger than it was a few moments ago. I guess the Pokédex entry on Charmander actually had been researched. Well, a bit of it, anyway.

"Geodude has fainted! Charmander wins. Gym Leader Brock, please choose your next Pokémon." The referee announced.

Brock pulled out a Heavy Ball and dropped it on the ground. There was a _THUD_ and a explosion of light-

I shrieked something along the lines of _YIPE, GIANT SNAKE!_ and dove for cover. After a moment I peeked out from the bench I was hiding under (Thankfully unoccupied. Else I would probably have had to say goodbye to my dignity) to find Brock staring at me with a long face, and the referee gaping. The Onix on the field did not look impressed.

I got out feeling pretty embarrassed, and resumed my place on the battlefield. Brock tapped his foot on the ground and the Onix moved. Before I could blink, Charmander was flying across the arena. I got pretty confused for a while. I was sure Charmanders did not have the power of flight.

Charmander hit the wall and then hit the ground as well a few seconds later. I realised no, Charmander did not possess the power of flight. Onix had simply moved so fast it was invisible for a brief moment.

"Keep to long distance attacks." I said, making an effort to keep my voice calm in the excitement of battle. "Go for the eyes and try to blind it."

Pulling himself up from where he fell, Charmander turned his blue eyes on the huge rock snake. Brock tapped his foot again. The Onix opened its mouth to deliver some sort of attack, and Charmander took his opportunity to strike. He spat a jet of flame- not so concentrated as the one before- and hit the Onix in the back of its throat.

The huge snake roared, head-sized rocks flying out of its mouth. Charmander darted forwards to try and land a Metal Claw. I cried out a warning- too late- as the Onix's tail whipped up and struck the little lizard a glancing blow to the side, sending him into the ground in a tumble of golden scales. Then the rock snake coiled up and spat a barrage of rocks in Charmander's general direction. The fire lizard didn't have the time to dodge them all.

Charmander got up on all fours a little dazedly, looking battered. His tail flame flared up with a dull _WHUMP_ and he stood a little straighter (Still on all fours), his blue eyes burning with unholy fire. His Blaze ability had activated and he sure as hell wouldn't be beaten by _this_ shit-eating snake.

I made a pretty tough decision then. "Char, buddy, come back." I called softly. The lizard in question growled without even looking back at me. I knew he still wanted to fight, but I couldn't have him fainting just yet. If Vulpix's plan didn't work, I was going to need backup.

Brock waited patiently for us. How gentlemanly of him. His Onix still had steam coming out of its mouth and looked like it was itching to smash Charmander into the dirt, but it wasn't going to attack without its trainer's consent.

"Charmander. I'm going to need you if Vulpix can't do it. I can't take the chances of you fainting now. We still have a record to make! Please?"

As silly as it sounds, when Charmander becomes a Charizard, I want to be able to brag 'This Charizard has never fainted before'. Yeah, I know. You people are probably wanting to know which kindergarten I go to. It's quite pointless, I'll admit, but hey, who _doesn't_ want bragging rights?

Charmander slowly turned around, the fire fading from his eyes. Reluctantly, he padded to my side. I picked him up and gave him a hug, stroking his tattered, dirt-smeared scales. "Good boy." I whispered, and set him on my shoulder. I felt him put one little arm around my neck and bury his snout in my hair.

"It is rare to see a Pokémon from the Charizard line behave so tamely to a trainer, especially when requested to back down from a fight with a possibility of victory." Brock remarked quietly.

I smiled to myself. I didn't know where Charmander had come from, only remembering waking up in this world with his ball. Of course he was special. Wait, now I just sound like a proud parent. That's bad.

"Vulpix." I said, clicking the button on his Pokéball. Vulpix sprang onto the battlefield and sat down, starting to lick his chest fur. His Drought ability made the fading sunlight flare up again.

Vulpix fired a Solarbeam, which the Onix dodged. I clapped my hand twice, and Vulpix used Flash. Onix roared, flinching as the bright light stabbed its eyes. A while later, just as the light started fading, Vulpix got the snake with a Solarbeam.

There was some more roaring, but strangely it stayed relatively still. Vulpix used Solarbeam again. And again. Onix, by this stage, looked like it was about to faint. I frowned in a puzzled way. Then I noticed the red aura around Onix's coils.

"Oh shi-" I managed to get out as I realised what it was.

Onix used Bide.

Vulpix didn't even bother to dodge. He simply collapsed after being hit. I cursed myself for not remembering Brock's signature move.

"Vulpix has fainted! Onix wins-"

"Wait." I interrupted. "Hold your call." The referee looked confused. Then the fallen Vulpix shimmered, and faded away. A look of realisation dawned on Brock's face.

"Onix! Move...!" Brock shouted.

A split second later, the ground erupted beside Onix, and a flash of gold leapt out. Vulpix darted up along Onix's coils with the speed of a Quick Attack and jumped as he got to the rock snake's head and did a backflip so he was facing its head.

And promptly nailed Onix between the eyes with a Solarbeam, point-blank.

It was all over after that.

"Substitute." Brock muttered to himself as he recalled his fainted Pokémon. "Of course. When you used Flash, Vulpix switched places with a Substitute and went underground. Clever."

"Yep." I grinned. Vulpix had come up with that one by himself, smart fox.

"Well, I seem to owe you a badge." Brock sighed, fishing something out of his pocket and throwing it across the arena. Vulpix caught it and dropped it by my feet. I picked the Boulder Badge up and stuffed it in my pocket, since I had neglected to get a Badge Case.

As I exited the Gym, I faintly heard Brock mutter:"No wonder the chicks don't dig me." In a very dejected tone.

* * *

 **I am once again, very sorry for the late update. I tend to get lazy during the school holidays.**


	6. Shattered Ice

Chapter Five: Shattered Ice

* * *

The Cerulean Caves wasn't a place prone to frosts, snowfall, or for that matter, heavy blizzards. No, that was the Seafoam Islands' job.

But today it was. The citizens of Cerulean City gathered at the waterfronts and gawped at the massive blizzard-cloud hovering over the Cerulean Caves, never spreading, never shrinking. Between the icy darkness they sometimes caught sight of a blue blur, gone too fast for them to be completely sure it was ever there, darting amongst the cold storm wherever the clouds are thickest.

"It's unnatural, this storm." People insisted, feeling the invisible aura of an immense power roiling and snapping in the air but never knowing it for what it was. Sometimes someone would see the blue shape and make out a wing or a long ribbon-like tail. They would shout out to the person next to them, but by the time they turned around it was always gone. Dismissed as illusions seen out of the corner of an eye. A blue thunderbolt.

One trainer saw it, and knew it for what is was. She remembered challenging the beast in a foolish fit of naïvety and getting soundly curbstomped in spite of a type advantage. Her companions, considered powerful by common standards beaten within an in of their lives by a simple, contemptuous flap of a Legendary wing.

"Articuno." Misty murmured softly, gazing at the turmoil from the top of her Gym. "Why are you here?"

.oOo.

Articuno fanned her wings lazily, banking to one side, then diving and jinking and shooting through her clouds faster than the eye could follow. The little ones saw her and gaped in awe, but she wasn't here for their entertainment. No, she came for something else.

She dived again, then pulled up sharply and rolled. All the while her ruby eyes calmly scanned her surroundings, seeing things far away, things not visible to a mortal eye. Searching, searching.

Articuno waited.

She let her blazing blue-white aura be seen, magnified it even, adding to the ferocity of her storm. Her power mixed with the storm and sent waves of aura roaring out into the world, sure to attract the attention of the one she waited for.

Articuno was nothing if not patient.

After a long while or a short while (Time was nothing to an immortal), an answer came. A sudden pulse of psychic energy disrupted the storm, and it began to quietly abate. Articuno did not bother to summon it again. The storm had served its purpose.

What seemed to be an armoured figure with a feline tail emerged at the center of the psychic dissonance, and flew up towards her, spiting all laws of gravity. Articuno sliced gracefully through the air and landed on a rocky outcrop just above where the creature hovered.

 _"Old one."_ The creature spoke in a dispassionate tone. The little creatures often spoke of him in tones of fear. Articuno had gathered all she could about him from the witnesses around her brothers' homes. The little creatures had seen much, but little would come out of their fearful mouths.

 _"Mewtwo."_ Articuno greeted. _"What brings you here?"_ A pointless question. She had brought him here, but someone else had sent him.

 _"My partner wishes for me to subdue you for scientific purposes."_ Mewtwo answered in a toneless voice. _"It would make it easy for both of us if you came of you own will."_

Partner. Scientific purposes. Articuno had a faint idea of who the 'partner' was, but it would not do to assume things.

 _"Did you take my brothers in a similar way? Scientific purposes?"_ Articuno wondered out aloud. _"Did they, I wonder, follow tamely to be imprisoned and forced to fight for a cause they have no part of, against our other kin? For scientific purposes?"_ Of course not. She knew her hot-headed brothers too well. Zapdos would have told them _no_ with beak and claw and thunder, and Moltres would have japed and laughed in their faces and tried to talk his way out of it, but still resisted with everything he had.

 _"You do not have a choice."_ The feline told her simply. _"You cannot hope to win."_

Articuno tilted her head sideways. Long, long ago when the world was young, she would have been able to put the arrogant kitten in his place. But that was a long time ago, when the gods walked the mortal realms and she and her brothers had been true phoenixes then, not this sad remnant Arceus had reduced them to after He no longer had a need of them. Groudon and Kyogre weren't the only ones to lose their Primordial forms, though the little one's memories didn't stretch so far back.

 _"We shall see."_ Articuno answered. Before she quite finished communicating, she shot up into the air and brought her wings together with the force of a thunderclap. Winter howled and lashed out at Mewtwo and he was pushed backwards violently and narrowly avoided getting dashed against a rock. His eyes glowed blue as he rose into the air and shielded himself from the blizzard.

 _"Futile."_

Mewtwo narrowed his eyes and darted at Articuno, a ball of shadow in his hands. He fired it at the blue phoenix and backflipped, flying backwards then diving. Articuno rolled and let the sphere shoot past her. Grey mist billowed out after her, and soon the whole island was enshrouded in a thick fog, making anything further away than five feet of the viewer nigh impossible to see. The cat-creature wasn't troubled by it; after all, he was Psychic.

 _"I believe the little ones call that 'Shadow Ball'."_ Articuno mused as she shot past Mewtwo, wings vertical to the ground. Mewtwo's feline head snapped around, but Articuno was no longer there.

 _"Power you may have plenty of, but you have not properly learnt how to use your skills yet."_ Articuno's voice reverberated around them. Mewtwo whirled around to find nothing but air and shadows.

A blue ball of light formed in Mewtwo's right paw, then another in his left. He scanned the clouded skies around him with glowing eyes and then spun, launching both spheres in opposite directions to each other. They both plunged straight down. From below, there was a sound of splintering ice.

 _"Aura Sphere."_ Articuno's voice called down from above. Mewtwo flicked a third Sphere from his tail and it sped upwards. He was answered by a shower of ice shards, which slid off his barrier harmlessly.

 _"So very easy to counter. It follows the target, yes, but it cannot punch through a physical barrier."_ This time, her voice came from behind. Mewtwo blasted fire in all directions, but failed to hit anything important.

Mewtwo looked faintly puzzled for a moment. An Ice Beam came out of the fog and Mewtwo jolted back- right into the path of a bolt of darkness coming from the opposite direction. He gave a very catlike hiss of pain.

 _"Impossible."_ He said, tone devoid of any shock, more a curious statement than an actual exclamation. _"You cannot learnt Dark or Ghost type attacks."_

A musical laugh. A chunk of ice falling from above which Mewtwo dodged with ease. A flash of light and an explosion from underneath and suddenly all the ice was flying back up, splintered into deadly sharp shards. Mewtwo curled into a ball and Rapid Spun into a blur, deflecting all the ice shards.

 _"You fight like a Human-Bound, little kit."_ Articuno sang. _"You have much to learn. Your attacks are restricted by the little ones' imagination. Much and more are possible outside of the 'Moves' you learn."_ Mewtwo stopped his Rapid Spin and sent a Flame Burst upwards, melting all the ice shards before they came down again. He tried locating the bird Legendary with his psychic powers but came up blank yet again.

A blue blur shot past him at impossible speeds, visible only to his enhanced eyesight. He lashed out with a Psycho Cut. The Double Team clone dissipated in a blast of smoke and Mewtwo reeled away, only to be hit by a bolt of cold.

Just for a fleeting moment, Mewtwo caught a whisper of thought. Tiny. But it was enough. Mewtwo zeroed in on it and Fire Blasted it mercilessly. A _bang_ and a flash of light, like when a Substitute dissolves. A Hyper Beam blasted out of nowhere and smacked into Mewtwo's palm as he caught it without suffering damage.

Something clicked into place in his head. The feline unleashed psychic energy in all directions to dissipate the fog, but it wouldn't budge. He caught the tell-tale blankness of Dark energy woven into the making of the Mist. It wasn't possible, it _shouldn't_ be possible, but Articuno had turned her Mist from Ice type into Dark type.

So instead he used the psychic energy to push the air particles into each other and create a wind instead of simply brushing it aside with his power as he would have usually done.

The skies cleared, though the storm-clouds still hung somewhat heavily overhead. Mewtwo descended and crouched low, breathing harsh. He looked up to make sure the coast was clear to avoid being taken unawares while Recovering.

A blue shape dove down from high, arrowing straight for him. He couldn't sense Articuno's mind at all, though he put it down to the result of spending too much time in the Dark-Mist. He brought his paws together and Focus Blasted it as hard as he could.

The image dissipated as the attack ripped through it. A Double Team clone. Mewtwo's senses hadn't told wrong. Fancy play with Double Team clones. No wonder she had seemed so fast.

Four more copies dove down. Once again, Mewtwo could not sense their minds. He dismissed them as more Double Team clones. After all, when has a Double Team clone ever done damage to anyone?

He closed his eyes and began his Recover... Only to be hit by four Sky Attacks all at once. Mewtwo yowled just like a cat as healing warred with damage, perhaps doing more damage than healing. Blind with pain, he lashed out with a mass Fire Blast and reduced the clones to mist in seconds.

Articuno felt a flicker of amusement.

Mewtwo recovered his emotionless state and gritted his feline teeth. _"You are wiser than your brothers."_ He noted. _"How have you hidden your mind from me? Substitutes have a trace of the maker's consciousness, yet I sensed nothing in yours."_

 _"Think like a Legendary, kitten."_ Articuno answered. _"Your power is not limited by a little one's concepts. 'Rest' is a 'Psychic' type 'move', no? Psychic and Dark are closer than you think. It is easy to hide your mind when your physical body is not conscious."_

Mewtwo frowned. He did not know why Articuno was telling him so much. Giving information to the enemy was never beneficial unless it was false, and Mewtwo knew for a fact that Articuno was not lying. Articuno was not stupid, nor did she like to boast, so why? She would gain nothing, yet she gives advice freely. Mewtwo did not understand why anyone would do anything if it did not benefit their self.

 _"It is possible to control an unconscious body, as the 'move' 'Sleep Talk' proves."_ Articuno continued. _"Though complete control has to be mastered through difficult training."_

Mewtwo finished healing himself and stood, tail lashing. _"Show yourself."_ He demanded.

A pause. _"Very well."_

The temperature suddenly dropped by fifty degrees celsius. Water froze almost instantly. A rush of cold air, and the ice phoenix was rising to face Mewtwo, winter trailing from her wings. A blast of snow and cold air cloaking a beautiful, terrible being.

She was bigger than her clones, her feathers brighter, her tail smoother. It was clear that she didn't participate in the skirmish in the sky at all.

Mewtwo's partner had scoffed at the idea the Legendaries were gods, and the ease of capturing Zapdos and Moltres had proved him true. But they had being outside their element and caught unawares.

 _"No."_ Articuno _caw_ ed, reading the thoughts he had unintentionally let out of his tightly-guarded mind. _"Not true gods, but we are certainly at least half."_

Mewtwo didn't reply. He crouched in a fighting stance, signalling the end of the conversation. Articuno dipped her head once, and rose in a flurry of snow.

They took to the air. Mewtwo started with a Psyshock, and Articuno countered with a wave of invisible matter that rippled the fabric of the universe and sent the Psyshock veering away. The sky itself trembled as they fought and the folks of Cerulean City wondered _What the hell is going on?_ as invisble energy lashed and howled and tore roof tiles loose and sent quite a few people to the psyche ward or nearby therapists.

The magical creatures under stood what was going on immediately and evacuated, or tried to. Many trainers were dragged or knocked out and carried into Mount Moon or the road to Vermilion City in bemusement as their Pokémon companions decided their chances of survival was higher in a place where there _weren't_ two Legendaries having a smackdown.

Meanwhile at Cerulean Caves, the said Legendaries were going at each other with everything they had and some things they didn't (e.g A nearby Gyarados that wasn't smart enough to get out of the way and was used as a whip/bat/psychic power-held cannon/projectile).

"Mommy! There's a flying Garry!" A little girl screamed, pointing at the unfortunate sea-serpent.

Her mother gave her an absentminded pat on the head. "That's nice, dearie."

Articuno's blue feathers were no longer quite so neat, though she still looked quite regal. Mewtwo had ice on several parts of his armour, though it wasn't damaged enough to stop working. Though Mewtwo himself didn't know, Articuno had figured out what it was for and did not try to break it.

Mewtwo used Quick Attack. Something so simple that he often overlooked it, but he had need of it now. He slammed into Articuno's underside, the phoenix unable to dodge due to getting hit by Supersonic just before. With a boost of psychic energy, he flipped them so they were plunging head-first to the ground and firmly kept it that way with more psychic energy.

Just before they hit the ground, Mewtwo let go and fired Psystrike point-blank.

He waited for the dust to settle and approached the crater, tail flicking this way and that. He floated above the unmoving blue shape and sent out a psychic probe to make sure the bird Legendary was out.

Nope.

Articuno shot up and hit him hard, the leftover energy from Protect fading, and forced her consciousness into his through the path left by his retracting mind.

 _No! Not possible._

 _Anything is possible._ Articuno hummed as she dived through his memories, searching.

Mewtwo snarled and prepared to shove her out. It was _his_ mind, and as a Psychic he was on his home turf.

Articuno brushed past the irrelevant thoughts. Past dealings with other Legendaries and missions, things Team Rocket had made him do. _He doesn't know._ She realised with a flicker of pity. Mewtwo didn't know what he was doing, at least not the full extent of it.

Mewtwo's mental defences snapped shut and Articuno found herself trapped in. She shook her head to herself. _Mistake, kitten._

The armour clad cat suddenly became aware of the fact that he was once again twenty thousand feet in the air, and firmly ensnared in Articuno's claws.

And that was when Articuno unleashed the Sheer Cold she had left as a timed command in her subconsciousness.

It bought her time, if nothing else. Even in his de-powered state, Mewtwo wasn't a creature to be taken out by that one hit, though he was injured enough to be sufficiently distracted.

Capture of Zapdos, plans to trap Johto Legendaries, the Mew hair that led to his creation, tinged with an acrid tang of bitterness. Articuno went past them all. But no endgame. If there was an ultimate goal aside from the simple greed for wealth and power, Mewtwo was not told of it. Then she found a quite interesting piece of news.

 _Not him. Another little one. The power has changed hands._

Mewtwo howled and tore Articuno out, sending her reeling back into her own body. Then, with an enraged and unnecessary amount of force, struck back at his attacker and victim.

Psystrike.

At full blast.

Articuno fell, her blue wings unmoving.

Cool red eyes met shocked purple.

She allowed herself one flicker of satisfaction, and fell like an ending song.

All the creatures, big or small, furred, feathered or scaled lifted their heads and gave a single, simultaneous howl of incomprehensible emotion.

* * *

"What's gotten into you?" I complained as all my Pokémon, who never agreed on a thing except for Poképuffs, uttered a cacophony of howls, shrieks, and _PIIKA!_ s all at once.

Charmander gave me a long, sorrowful look and curled into a ball. The others quieted down as well, lowering their heads like a funeral procession. Even Vulpix, who had seemed to be resistant to bad moods.

The Pokécenter was ringing from the echoes of the resident Pokémon's calls. The Pokémon out in the streets were also utterly silent, even the ever- _creek_ ing Bugs.

I came to the conclusion that something incredibly bad had happened, like a Legendary dying. I hoped it wasn't one of the Dragon-type ones (I loved the Dragon Legendaries 'cos they're _rawr_ some), Mew (Mew was one of the only Legendaries with an interesting personality, and besides, it's cute), or Articuno (Say yes to eternal ice-cream and a literally cool phoenix). Or maybe the Pokémart just ran out of 'puffs.

"Did someone just die?" I rubbed Charmander's golden scales. He looked at me miserably with big blue eyes from his curled-up position and nodded.

Okay. I didn't actually expect to get it right, but since I did, I mentally gave myself an imaginary medal.

"Who was it, buddy?" I asked softly. When Charmander failed to answer, Pikachu turned and faced me, and then mimed a flapping motion with his little arms.

A bird, then. Or just one with wings. That was an extremely bad sign. I liked the winged ones. I decided not to question Pikachu further because I suddenly found myself unwilling to find out.

I returned my pack to its storage ball and clipped that onto my belt. "C'mon, guys." I grinned. "Let's take Mount Moon by storm."

All of them perked up at that. Bloodthirsty critters, the lot of them. All the better for me.

I checked out of the Pokécenter, politely smiling in response to Nurse Joy's 'hope to see you again!', and approach the gaping entrance to Mount Moon.

Those Geodudes will never know what hit them. Or what stepped on them, for that matter.

* * *

The inside of Mount Moon was _dark_. 'Dark' with a capital 'D' and a capital every other letter too. I had Pikachu scamper in front of with on Lightbulb Mode (Flash) so I wouldn't step on every Geodude in my path and end up getting Rock Thrown at (That first one was enough, thank you.) The trainers in there were pretty small fry, but I'd only seen two in what felt like hours. And only near the entrance, where the dark wasn't so absolute.

I briefly considered catching a Zubat. They popped up pretty often, usually diving at my face. Pikachu dealt with them quite suffiently, and we left a trail of fainted just-about-every-Pokémon-species-in-Mount-Moon behind us everywhere we went. There was plenty of opportunity to just drop a Pokéball on one.

I was still debating whether or not to obtain a Zubat to go on my team (Crobats are awesome) when the Onix came out of nowhere. Not _nowhere_ , because everything had to come from _somewhere_ , but you know what I mean. Straight out of the dark.

I had ended up on the cave wall at the opposite side before the pain fully registered. I howled and curled up in a ball, fingers reaching for my forehead. I howled again when I touched it, my hands jerking away like something electrocuted.

My mind dimly registered roaring and other chaotic noises coming from somewhere close by. My back hurt, my head hurt, and I felt like I wouldn't want to move for years. There was something liquid on my hand, which meant my head must have been bleeding. I just wanted to go to sleep and wake up somewhere nice, pumped full of painkillers. Fire and lightning roared and crackled somewhere close by, but it didn't quite get to my head.

I slowly came to the conclusion that I was being attacked. I heard a squeal of pain from Pikachu and a small-sounding _thump_. _Vulpix,_ I thought dazedly. _Aria_. They would get me out of this mess. My fingers crept slowly down to my belt. If only I could get the Pokéballs, sent out my Pokémon...

"Send out the others, girl, and I'll kill your pet lizard." growled a voice from the dark.

I was startled. A trained Onix. Of course. Wild Pokémon don't strike to kill, or even to seriously wound. But why would another trainer...?

I slowly turned my head, hissing at the flare of pain it produced. I gritted my teeth, though more at the sight that greeted me than at the pain.

Charmander growled and Scratched, writhing like a severed skink tail, though that did not make the Onix relax its grip one little bit.

"I take it that this is supposed to be a robbery?" I asked as nonchalantly as I could, biting down a wince of pain.

Whoever it was didn't come out of the shadows, but I could hear a frown in his voice when he spoke.

"You're supposed to be scared." It almost sounded petulant.

"Oh, I'm terrified." I reassured him (provided that it was a 'him' and not a woman with a voice distorter). Where had that damn mouse run off to?

"It said, on that book. The victim is supposed to be scared out of their wits, and I was supposed to stop them from screaming and bring other people to the scene." The whoever-it -was complained.

"Uh." I wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"You're not screaming." He/she said in a disappointed tone.

Gods dammit, where is the annoying mouse? If Pikachu wasn't dead then he should turn up anytime now.

"Aaagghh. I screamed." I said. I gave him a disturbingly big smile as I tried to inconspicuously inch my fingers to the other two Pokéballs attached to my belt.

I scraped the rocks near my foot against the ground and coughed. "Excuse me, mister, may I tie my bootlaces?"

"No."

"May I blow my nose?"

"No."

"I need to pee really, really badly."

"Give me all your possessions first and you can piss anywhere you want."

"Uh..." I turned my brain upside-down for ideas. I came up with one.

I widened my eyes as far as they could go.

"OH MY ARCEUS WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" I pointed at something behind them with an expression of utter terror on my face.

Surprisingly, it worked.

As one, man and Pokémon snapped around to look behind them. With a victorious shriek, I violently threw my two Pokémon-occupied balls onto the ground in front of me.

The guy must have noticed, but he made no effort to turn around. Seeing no danger in the present, I proceeded to peek around the giant Onix.

And got a faceful of Tyranitar.

"ARRGHH!" I yelled. "GET ME OUTTA HERE I DON'T WANNA DIE IN JURASSIC PARK!"

 _BOOM._

The T-tar lifted a foot as casually as you please, and stepped on the Onix like it was an irritating bug.

It was super effective!

"Uh-oh-" An that was all the guy had to say before he was suddenly and violently Thundershocked into unconsciousness. I would have cheered, but my skull felt like it was on the wrong end of a jackhammer.

A Dragonite floated into view with a look of utter puppyish innocence on its face (They always have that look), antennae crackling with leftover electricity. With the light from Charmander's flickering tail flame, I could clearly see that the Dragon-Type had shimmering emerald scales glowing brightly from Flash.

I imagine the look on my face must have resembled that of someone who has being hit in the face with a Magikarp. Quite suddenly and violently. Charmander leaped out of the way and tried to bury himself in my jacket, tail sticking out like a misplaced torch.

There was a smallish scuffling sound as a figure climbed off the Tyranitar's back, and a rustle as another slid off the tail of the Dragonite.

"Three cheers for Team Skull!" The boy with the Tyranitar announced loudly, his voice bouncing off the cave walls like sugar-high schoolkids.

"HIP HIP HOORAY! HIP-"

"Sharesh!" The other boy shouted. "Keep your voice down!" His also-loud voice joined Sharesh's in bouncing off walls.

I winced and clutched my head as the loud volume whacked into my head like a sledgehammer.

"BUT YOU'RE SHOUTING TOO!" Sharesh complained.

"YEAH, THAT'S 'COS YOU'RE-"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, and immediately regretted it as my head pain tripled in size. I groaned and curled up even more tightly than before. I felt the little lump that was Charmander crawl out of my jacket and growl threateningly.

The two guys immediately noticed. One poked the other in the arm.

"Hey Sharesh, there's-"

"-A tiny lizard threatening us with an untimely demise." Sharesh whispered not-so-quietly. "Don't worry, Warp. I'll protect you-"

"No, you karp-for-brains!" Warp whisper-snapped. "I'm talking about the girl!"

I shifted slightly and whimpered. _Help me!_ I yelled mentally.

The two looked at each other. Then at their Pokémon. Then back at me. And proceeded to repeat the process.

"I don't know what to do! Do you know what to do when there's a girl with a waterfall of blood coming out of her head, Warp? Do you? Do you?"

 _What did he just say?_

My hand went to my head and I swallowed a shriek of pain as it came away soaked. With an effort that not even the most annoyingly persistent fangirls could summon up, I lifted it to my face.

My hand was cover with more red than I'd ever seen before (Even after a painting class).

"Uh..." I dimly heard one of the boys start to say something.

 _Ah, shit._

Then I promptly fainted from shock, blood loss, probable concussions, and sheer confusion.

* * *

 **Sorry to say this. This story probably won't be updated in quite some time 'cus I'll be trying to divert most of my attention to finishing my _first_ story.**

 **The new characters are based on two real-life people whom I met in a Pixelmon server called CraftableMC. 'Course their real names aren't what I put down. They're just imitations of their usernames. Since Pixelmon has been shut down so I'll probably never hear from them again, I decided to put the two characters in as a kinda eulogy to Pixelmon.**

 **Anyways, if those two have suddenly taken an interest in FanFiction and are reading this, please don't sue me for not writing your character well enough.**

 **-Nanosecond**


End file.
